Can I cut some trees back or willl it damage them seeing as it's February?

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Now would be good timewise , I have a garden shredder .
The gardens are empty (so not noisy for NDN or worry about things falling near children or annimals )
No leaves on the trees so easier to see the outline
No nesting birds

But will it damage the trees ?

I'm talking loppers and electric saws , not chainsaws

You should be fine. I think in the winter/spring you trim for regrowth, and autumn you trim to limit growth. January is the best time for pruning fruit trees for instance, before the sap starts to rise. So what you prune off now should re-envigorate it a bit. Read up on how to prune - eg above a joint or bud, dead branches. branches crossing over etc. the RHS website is really good for this.

Thanks , I'll have a search on the RHS site

There's a pear tree , buddleia , ivy (lots of ivy so it needs to get trimmed before nesting season) dogwood , cottoneaster and a tree - I do not know what it is !

You can hack a buddleia down and the damn thing will regrow so don’t worry about killing it!

Ditto Ivy.

Show us a pic of the tree.

I'll get a photo of the tree uploaded and there's a climber (not mine its come through the fence and over it ) no idea what it is though.
(It's not a pretty climber , not a Clematis or honeysuckle )

Might the climber be a weed ?

@DobbyTheHouseElk

You can hack a buddleia down and the damn thing will regrow so don’t worry about killing it!

Ditto Ivy.

Show us a pic of the tree.

It is possible to kill them if your builder uses such a blunt chainsaw that it actually burns. Wild one in a daft place so didn't mind, but did tell him off for abusing the tools (and pointed out they're more dangerous like that)

@70isaLimitNotaTarget

Now would be good timewise , I have a garden shredder . The gardens are empty (so not noisy for NDN or worry about things falling near children or annimals ) No leaves on the trees so easier to see the outline No nesting birds

But will it damage the trees ?

I'm talking loppers and electric saws , not chainsaws

As to will it damage the trees, well a chainsaw in skilled hands is not as likely to as an underpowered electric one or blunt loppers used on too big a branch....

We lopped some of the thinner springey branches from the peartree and I painstakingly ploughed my way through the ivy (and brambles ) and weirdy creeper .

Clean cut on the branches , I know its not good to rip or crush them ( I supervised while DH cut )

@70isaLimitNotaTarget

We lopped some of the thinner springey branches from the peartree and I painstakingly ploughed my way through the ivy (and brambles ) and weirdy creeper .

Clean cut on the branches , I know its not good to rip or crush them ( I supervised while DH cut )

Too late for you, maybe useful for others.

Do it in two goes, first a few inches above where you really want the cut. Start by cutting underneath, then cut from above to meet the underneath cut. The underneath cut stops the weight of the brach ripping the bark back below the cut.

It’s very rare that the two cuts meet perfectly, so then tidy it up by doing the second cut where you really want it. With no weight of the branch to worry about, you can do it in a single clean cut.

I’m told that current forestry advice is to leave the second cut until the tree has died back naturally